Radiation measuring systems and methods thereof

ABSTRACT

A radiation measuring device for measuring electromagnetic radiation originating from an external source. The radiation measuring device includes, a spectrometer, a pyranometer, a pyrgeometer, a diffuser, and a control unit. The spectrometer and a pyranometer are positioned in a sensor zone of a housing of the radiation measuring device. The spectrometer measures visible shortwave radiation and near-infrared shortwave radiation received at the sensor zone. The pyranometer measures shortwave radiation received at the sensor zone. The pyrgeometer is positioned in another sensor zone of the housing and measures longwave radiation received at the other sensor zone. The control unit receives radiation measurements from the spectrometer, pyranometer, and pyrgeometer. A corrected amount of radiation received at the sensor zones of the radiation measuring device is determined from the received radiation measurements. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/642,150, entitle “RADIATION MEASURING SYSTEMS AND METHODS THEREOF,”filed on Jul. 5, 2017, which claims the benefit U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/358,377, entitled “RADIATION MEASURING SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS THEREOF,” filed on Jul. 5, 2016, the disclosure of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Radiation in the natural world is principally divided into a componentoriginating from the sun, termed shortwave radiation, and a componentoriginating from inorganic and materials on Earth, termed longwaveradiation. These sources of radiation are composed of light that variesby wavelength, owing to the chemical composition of the atmosphere andmaterials on Earth, and the fractional contribution of radiation fromthese sources incident on any particular point. Radiometers are opticaldevices that measure radiation across a broad spectrum of wavelengths,in the shortwave or longwave region, with the intent of measuring thetotal energy across the spectrum in that region. Spectrometers areoptical devices that receive radiation and quantify the energy of lightreceived in comparatively narrow wavelengths to produce a spectrum. Thespectrum, which also may be called a spectral density, is a distributionof intensity of the optical radiation input to the spectrometer as afunction of a wavelength. A detecting element transforms the radiation,in broad or narrow spectral regions, into an electrical form after whicha signal processor may be used to analyze the spectrum by, for example,quantifying the amount of each wavelength component that is present inthe input optical radiation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is believed that certain embodiments will be better understood fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and inwhich:

FIG. 1 depicts a simplified block diagram of an example radiationmeasuring device in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a side schematic block diagram of the radiation measuringdevice shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the example radiation measuring devicedepicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the example radiation measuring deviceshown and depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the example radiation measuring deviceshown and depicted in in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of the example radiation measuringdevice shown and depicted in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 7 depicts a simplified block diagram of another example radiationmeasuring device in accordance with one non-limiting embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a side schematic block diagram of the radiation measuringdevice shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the example radiation measuring devicedepicted in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the example radiation measuring deviceshown and depicted in FIGS. 7 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a bottom plan view of the example radiation measuring deviceshown and depicted in in FIGS. 7 and 9; and

FIG. 12 is a front elevation view of the example radiation measuringdevice shown and depicted in FIGS. 7 and 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of the apparatuses, systems, methods, andprocesses disclosed herein. One or more examples of these non-limitingembodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that systems and methodsspecifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings are non-limiting embodiments. The features illustrated ordescribed in connection with one non-limiting embodiment may be combinedwith the features of other non-limiting embodiments. Such modificationsand variations are intended to be included within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments”, “someembodiments”, “one embodiment”, “some example embodiments”, “one exampleembodiment”, or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with any embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments”, “in some embodiments”, “in one embodiment”,“some example embodiments”, “one example embodiment”, or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

For the purposes of radiometry, the radiation budget at a point can saidto be composed of radiation originating from the sun, termed shortwaveradiation, and radiation originating from the organic and inorganiccomponents of the Earth system, termed longwave radiation. A detectorfor shortwave radiation is termed a pyranometer, whereas a detector forlongwave radiation is termed a pyrgeometer. Shortwave radiation islargely confined to wavelengths from 300-3000 nm and includes light thatis perceptible to humans (visible light or VIS) as well as light athigher frequencies (ultraviolet or UV) and lower frequencies (nearinfrared or “NIR”). This shortwave radiation might come directly fromthe sun, without interaction with other materials before reaching adetector, in which case it is known as the direct component shortwaveradiation. Alternatively, this shortwave radiation might scattered byatmospheric constituents (gases, aerosols, clouds) before reaching adetector indirectly. Scattered light coming from the sky is known as thediffuse component of radiation. Finally, some fraction of light reachingmaterials on Earth could be reflected from the surface before reachingthe detector. While in principle reflected light could come from aboveor below the detector, often the detector is positioned such thatdownwelling radiation is composed largely of direct and diffusecomponents of solar radiation, and upwelling radiation is composedlargely of reflected light from materials on the Earth's surface.Longwave infrared radiation as defined here is confined to wavelengthsfrom 8000-15,000 nm, and is emitted by all matter, proportionally to itstemperature and its chemical composition, which determines itsemissivity.

For the purposes of shortwave spectroscopy, the Earth's surface canbroadly be said to be comprised of soil, photosynthetic vegetation(“PV”), such as leaves, and non-photosynthetic vegetation (“NPV”), suchas wood, bark, dead leaves, and so forth. PV possesses a variety ofpigments that reflect (r), transmit (t) and absorb (b) light in awavelength-dependent fashion. Chief among these pigments arechlorophyll, carotenoids, and anthocyanin. The absorption of thesepigments in certain spectral regions is so strong as to render the leafnearly optically black with even small amounts of these pigmentspresent. Such is the case of the absorption of chlorophyll in the blueand red regions. Where there is weaker absorption, such as in the greenregion, there is slightly greater reflectance. This slight difference inreflectance is what makes a healthy leaf appear green.

By contrast, the lack of absorption of these pigments in other regions,particularly the near infrared (700 nm<λ<2400 nm), renders leavesoptically bright, with incident sunlight about evenly split betweenreflection and transmission. This sharp difference in absorption in thevisible and near infrared (NIR) is known as the red edge, and is used asa diagnostic of biological activity. The existence of this red edgeexists in contrast to the absorption spectrum of soils, water, ornon-photosynthetic vegetation, which is relatively flat.

The contrast in reflectance from the red region to the NIR region, owingto the presence of PV overlying soil, led to the development of“vegetation indices” that can be used to infer leaf area from airborneor satellite measurements of reflectance. For example, the “NormalizedDifference Vegetation Index” (NDVI) can be calculated as follows:

${NDVI} = \frac{\rho_{nir} - \rho_{vis}}{\rho_{nir} + \rho_{vis}}$

A tight relationship exists between the “Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index” (NDVI) and the leaf area index (LAI; m2leaf), aspresented in Sellers, P. J. (1985). Canopy reflectance, photosynthesisand transpiration. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 6(8),1335-1372. It should be appreciated that the total canopy absorptionfollows Beer's law, which can be express as follows:

I(LAI)=I ₀ *e ^((−kLAI))

Since the total canopy absorption follows Beer's law, the total canopyabsorption of photosynthetically active radiation is closely tied toNDVI as well. Thus, NDVI is a proxy for total absorption of light by theleaf canopy, which itself is in part a determinant of totalproductivity. In accordance with the present disclosure, conventionalNDVI can be measured as follows:

${NDVI} = \frac{{NIR} - R}{{NIR} + R}$

One shortcoming to the use of NDVI is its saturation above LAI ˜3.5.However, Gitelson et al. (1996) proposed that a Green NDVI (GNDVI) wouldhave wider dynamic range. [Gitelson, A. A., Kaufman, Y. J., & Merzlyak,M. N. (1996). Use of a green channel in remote sensing of globalvegetation from EOS-MODIS. Remote Sensing of Environment, 58(3),289-298.] GNDVI can be calculated by the following:

${GNDVI} = \frac{{NIR} - G}{{NIR} + G}$

In the red band, leaves show high absorption at even low levels ofchlorophyll, so the sensitive variable is the NIR. By contrast, a GreenNDVI has weaker absorption in the green, so as there is greater LAI, thegreen band lowers, and the NIR band increases. This has the effect ofexpanding the dynamic range of the index, while also being sensitive tochlorophyll concentration. Gitelson et al (1996) also proposed a Green“Atmospherically Resistant” Index (GARI) that would be less impacted byaerosols, which are diagnosed by contrasts in reflectance between theblue and the red. Aerosols absorb in the blue band, which is whysmog/haze has a reddish tint. The GARI can be calculated by thefollowing:

${GARI} = \frac{{NIR} - \left\lbrack {G - {\lambda \left( {B - R} \right)}} \right\rbrack}{{NIR} + \left\lbrack {G - {\lambda \left( {B - R} \right)}} \right\rbrack}$

The GARI is echoed by the “Enhanced Vegetation Index” (EVI) proposed byGitelson et al. (2008) [Gitelson, A. A., Vina, A., Masek, J. G., Verma,S. B., & Suyker, A. E. (2008). Synoptic Monitoring of Gross PrimaryProductivity of Maize Using Landsat Data. IEEE Geoscience and RemoteSensing Letters, 5(2), 133-137.] The EVI can be calculated by thefollowing:

${EVI} = \frac{2.5\left( {{NIR} - R} \right)}{1 + {NIR} + {6\; R} - {7\; B}}$${WDRVI} = \frac{{\alpha \; {NIR}} - R}{{\alpha \; {NIR}} + R}$

The strong absorption by chlorophyll in some regions, particularly theblue and red, renders reflectance measurements in these regionsunsuitable for use in inferring chlorophyll concentration. The strongspecific absorption of chlorophyll is such that small quantities ofchlorophyll cause total leaf absorption to saturate at lowconcentrations, while the range of biological interest is orders ofmagnitude wider. Thus, the ideal places to measure reflectance fordetermination of chlorophyll concentration are those regions wherechlorophyll absorbs slightly. This ensures that chlorophyll has someabsorption, so that the reflectance changes when more pigment ispresent, but not so much that the response saturates quickly. This isfound in regions around λ=550 nm and λ=725 nm as confirmed by S. L.Ustin et al. (2009) [Ustin, S. L., Gitelson, A. A., Jacquemoud, S.,Schaepman, M., Asner, G. P., Gamon, J. A., & Zarco-Tejada, P. (2009).Retrieval of foliar information about plant pigment systems from highresolution spectroscopy. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, S67-S77.]

Spectrometers are instruments used for measuring wavelengths of lightspectra in accordance with the above. Spectrometers may be used tomeasure the properties of light for a variety of applications includingenvironmental or chemical analysis, fluorescence, or Raman spectroscopy.Spectrometers are optical instruments that can detect spectral lines andmeasure their wavelength or intensity. Spectrometers are ideal fordetermining compositional makeup of a surface by means of analysis ofthe spectrum of reflected light. Spectrometers can also be used todetermine the composition of a material or gas by analyzing the measuredspectrum in reference to a known spectrum of a light source passingthrough the material or gas. Spectrometers can also be used to test theefficiency of an optical filter in order to determine whether a filterhas properly blocked or transmitted specific wavelengths. Spectrometerscan also be used to improve the performance of pyranometers orpyrgeometers by providing estimates of phenomena that can introducenoise or error into the signal, for example water vapor in theatmosphere that could impact the longwave emissivity of the sky, orspectral correction of incident light onto a photodiode.

An issue with spectrometers is that they measure the raw energy comingfrom a source (also known as the radiance), whereas the relevant measureto interpret is the reflectance, namely the ratio of radiation from thesource to the incident radiation. Spectrometer systems in accordancewith the present disclosure beneficially measure the actual reflectance,using twinned light sensors measuring incident and reflected radiationin each of several spectral bands.

Another issue with many spectrometers is the sensitivity to the specificgeometry of illumination and observation. Imaging spectrometers inparticular (e.g., from satellites, aircraft, or unmanned aerialvehicles) observe a very small solid angle in each pixel, and thedecontamination of so-called “bidirectional” effects is central to thequality assurance and quality control procedures for these images. Bycontrast, spectrometer systems in accordance with the present disclosurehave a diffuser on top and bottom which integrates incident light acrossthe entire hemisphere (upper or lower) thereby removing, or at leastreducing, the presence of view-angle effects. This configuration allowsfor a measure of the true reflectance of the surface, rather than the“bidirectional reflectance factor” that is measured with a directionalspectrometer.

Pyranometers can broadly be divided into two categories: those that usea thermoelectric effect to measure incident shortwave radiation by useof thermopiles, and those that use a photoelectric effect by use ofphotodiodes. In general, instruments relying on the thermoelectriceffect are considered more accurate, and are more expensive. Whilephotodiodes have an advantage due to their low cost and simplicity ofdesign, they suffer from two shortcomings: they have a limited range ofspectral sensitivity, generally between 400-1100 nm, and within thatrange, they vary in their sensitivity to light of different wavelengths.These two phenomena mean that the performance of photoelectricpyranometers is limited to settings where the incoming radiation has thesame spectral quality as the light where the instrument was calibrated.Thus, photoelectric pyranometers can have large errors when measuringupwelling shortwave radiation generally, or measuring downwellingradiation in the morning and evening (when blue from the sky is moreprevalent than red from the sun), or measuring downwelling radiationunder smoke, haze, or other aerosol contamination. These errors are suchthat corrections using an accompanying spectrometer can improveperformance of photoelectric pyranometers.

Another issue with pyranometers is degradation of performance asdiffusers situated above the detector degrade from exposure to UV lightor chemicals, or are covered with contaminants such as dust or pollen.The errors introduced by these phenomena may also be diagnosed by anaccompanying spectrometer, which can detect slow and persistent changesin the spectral quality of received radiation.

Pyrgeometers generally employ a thermoelectric effect using a thermopileto measure thermal radiation emitted from a target. One issue withpyrgeometers is the interpretation of the power of the receivedradiation as the temperature of the target, using the Stefan-Boltzmannrelation, for example:

LW=εσT _(K) ⁴

where ε is the emissivity of the target, σ is the Stefan-Boltzmannconstant (i.e., 5.67×10⁻⁸), and T_(K) is the temperature of the targetin Kelvin.

Generally, errors originate in the need to assume an emissivity of 1.0for arbitrary targets of unknown composition. For example, theemissivity of vegetation and soil for upwelling can be close to 1,whereas the emissivity of the sky is closer to 0.75. Furthermore, theemissivity of the sky is dependent on its water vapor content. Becausewater vapor has a higher emissivity, the bulk emissivity of anatmosphere with greater water vapor is larger. In the absence of thisadditional information, the inversion of the Stefan-Boltzmann equationto retrieve the target temperature is prone to error.

FIGS. 1-6 depict simplified block diagrams various views of an exampleradiation measuring device 100 in accordance with one non-limitingembodiment. The radiation measuring device 100 includes aspectroradiometer 102 configured to sense and/or measure amounts ofelectromagnetic radiation 204 originating from one or more sourcesexternal to the radiation measuring device 100. For example, in theillustrative embodiment, the spectroradiometer 102 is configured tosense and/or measure amounts of visible shortwave radiation,near-infrared (NIR) shortwave radiation, and longwave radiation thatoriginate from the sun (i.e., solar radiation) and/or that are reflectedby other objects. To do so, the spectroradiometer 102 includes aspectrometer 110, a pyranometer 120, and a pyrgeometer 130. In someembodiments, the spectroradiometer 102 and/or each of the spectrometer110, the pyranometer 120, and the pyrgeometer 130 are in electricalcommunication with a multiplexer 140, which may in turn be in electricalcommunication with a microcontroller 150 (e.g., a control unit). Inother embodiments (not shown), the spectroradiometer 102 and/or each ofthe spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, and the pyrgeometer 130 arein direct electrical communication with the microcontroller 150. Itshould be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the microcontroller 150may include the multiplexer 140.

The spectrometer 110 may include one or more sensors or componentsconfigured to sense radiation and/or other environmental conditions. Forexample, as illustratively shown in FIG. 1, the spectrometer 110 mayinclude one or more visible electromagnetic radiation sensors 112 (e.g.,visible light sensors), one or more near-infrared (NIR) electromagneticradiation sensors 114, one or more temperature sensors 116, and/or oneor more auxiliary sensors 118. The one or more visible electromagneticradiation sensors 112 are configured to sense and/or measure the amountof visible shortwave radiation originating from source(s) external tothe radiation measuring device 100. Additionally, the one or more NIRelectromagnetic radiation sensors 114 are configured to sense and/ormeasure the amount of NIR shortwave radiation originating from source(s)external to the radiation measuring device 100. For example, the visibleelectromagnetic radiation sensor(s) 112 and the NIR electromagneticradiation sensor(s) 114 may be configured to sense and/or measureamounts of visible and NIR shortwave radiation that originate from thesun (i.e., solar radiation) and/or that are reflected by other objects.In some embodiments, one or more of the sensors of the spectrometer 110are configured to measure radiation within a water absorption band(i.e., radiation having a wavelength centered at about 950 nm or about1450 nm).

The pyranometer 120 of the spectroradiometer 102 may include one or moresensors also configured to sense and/or measure the amount of shortwaveradiation originating from source(s) external to the radiation measuringdevice 100. In some embodiments, the pyranometer 120 is configured tosense and/or measure the amount of visible shortwave radiationoriginating from source(s) external to the radiation measuring device100. Additionally or alternatively, the pyranometer 120 is configured tosense and/or measure the amount of NIR shortwave radiation originatingfrom source(s) external to the radiation measuring device 100. Thepyrgeometer 130 of the spectroradiometer 102 is configured to senseand/or measure the amount of longwave radiation originating fromsource(s) external to the radiation measuring device 100.

The radiation measuring device 100 can also include a data input/output(I/O) module 160. The data I/O module 160 can include communicationcircuity such as, for example, one or more wireless communication radiosor modules to support various wireless communication protocols (e.g.,Wifi-based protocols, LTE or GSM protocols, BLUETOOH protocols, nearfield communication protocols, satellite protocols, cellular protocols,etc.). In some embodiments, the data I/O module 160 can also provide forwired interfaces, such as a USB interface, an Ethernet interface, and soforth. In some operational environments, the radiation measuring device100 can generally function as a weather monitor to enable variousdata-intensive natural resource management or civil infrastructuremanagement software services. The data I/O module 160 can be used by theradiation measuring device 100 to transmit data (e.g., radiationmeasurement data, location data, orientation data, sensor data,diagnostic data, health data, etc.) to a data collection server or aradiation analysis device in real-time, substantially real-time, or inbatch format. Additionally or alternatively, the data I/O module 160 canbe used by the radiation measuring device 100 to receive data from oneor more sensors (not shown), such as sensors for measuring soilmoisture, air quality, water pressure and flow, electrical current, andso forth. Additional tools, such as soil moisture and salinitymonitoring devices, a camera, or equipment monitors can be interfacewith one or more ports of the data I/O module 160.

The radiation measuring device 100 also includes a power source 170. Thepower source 170 is configured to generate power to satisfy some or allof the power consumption requirements of the radiation measuring device100. For example, in the illustrative embodiment, the power source 170includes a solar array 174 configured to be exposed to sunlight forgeneration of power for the radiation measuring device 100. The solararray 174 may be in electrical communication with a charge controller172 which can include, for example, a maximum power point controller orvoltage regulator. In some embodiments, onboard power storage sourcescan be utilized (i.e., solar-charged battery cells, etc.) to store andsupply power to the radiation measuring device 100.

In some embodiments, the radiation measuring device 100 may also includean orientation sensor 180 configured to determine a levelness of theradiation measuring device 100 and/or components or portions thereof.For example, the orientation sensor 180 may be configured to determinewhether one or more sensor areas are level relative to a referenceplane. In some embodiments, the orientation sensor 180 is embodied as abubble level, a magnetometer, and/or any other device or combinations ofdevices configured to operate as a tilt sensor or level. Furthermore,the radiation measuring device 100 can include a location sensor 190(e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, RF triangulationcircuitry, a compass, etc.) for generating location data or othergeospatial data indicative of the physical location of the radiationmeasuring device 100.

The microcontroller 150 (e.g., control unit, processor, etc.) is incommunication (e.g., via direct or indirect electrical communication) tothe various components of the radiation measuring device 100. In theillustrative embodiment, the microcontroller 150 receives measurementsand/or data generated by the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, thepyrgeometer 130, the data I/O module 160, the orientation sensor 180,the location sensor 190, and/or any other component of the radiationmeasuring device 100. For example, in some embodiments, themicrocontroller 150 receives one or more voltages generated by each ofsensors (e.g., the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, thepyrgeometer 130, etc.) indicative of the amount of shortwave and/orlongwave electromagnetic radiation measured. It should be appreciatedthat, in some embodiments, the measurements and/or data generated thespectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, the pyrgeometer 130, and/or anyother components of the spectroradiometer 102 may be first received bythe multiplexer 140 and then transmitted to the microcontroller 150 forfurther processing.

In some embodiments, the radiation measuring device 100 may include amounting assembly 250 (FIGS. 2, 3, 5, and 6). In such embodiments, themounting assembly 250 may be configured to facilitate mounting theradiation measuring device 100 to a post. It should be appreciated thatwhile the mounting assembly 250 is shown to facilitate mounting theradiation measuring device 100 to a post, other mounting assemblies canbe used.

The radiation measuring device 100 includes one or more diffusersconfigured to scatter electromagnetic radiation received from externalsource(s). For example, as depicted in FIGS. 2-4 and 6, the radiationmeasuring device 100 includes a diffuser 210 (e.g., a first diffuser)configured to cover the spectrometer 110 and the pyranometer 120. Thediffuser 210 may be embodied as or otherwise include one or morethermoplastic materials. For example, in some embodiments, the diffuser210 includes a polycarbonate material or an acrylic material. In suchembodiments, the diffuser 210 is configured to scatter visibleelectromagnetic shortwave radiation and near-infrared electromagneticshortwave radiation received from external source(s) prior to beingsensed and/or measured by the spectrometer 110 and the pyranometer 120.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the radiation measuring device 100also includes a separate diffuser 230 (e.g., a second diffuser)configured to cover the pyrgeometer 130. The diffuser 230 may beembodied as or otherwise include one or more thermoplastic materialsdifferent from the diffuser 210. For example, in some embodiments, thediffuser 230 includes a polyethylene material. In such embodiments, thediffuser 230 is configured to scatter electromagnetic radiation receivedfrom external source(s) prior to being sensed and/or measured by thepyrgeometer 130.

As depicted in FIGS. 2-6, the radiation measuring device 100 has ahousing 220 that includes various the various components describedherein. For example, as illustratively shown, the spectrometer 110 andthe pyranometer 120 are positioned in a sensor zone (e.g., a firstsensor zone 206) of the radiation measuring device 100. Additionally,the pyrgeometer 130 is positioned in separate sensor zone (e.g., asecond sensor zone 208) of the radiation measuring device 100, which mayor may not be adjacent to the first sensor zone 206. In suchembodiments, the spectrometer 110 may be configured to measure visibleshortwave radiation received at the first sensor zone 206. Furthermore,the pyranometer 120 may be configured to measure visible shortwaveradiation and, in some embodiments, near-infrared shortwave radiation,received at the first sensor zone 206. The pyrgeometer 130 may beconfigured to measure longwave radiation received at the second sensorzone 208. In this arrangement, the diffuser 210 and the diffuser 230 maybe positioned to cover the first sensor zone 206 and the second sensorzone 208, respectively.

In some embodiments, the housing 220 of the radiation measuring device100 may define a recess or cavity for each sensor zone. For example, thehousing may define a recess (e.g., a first recess 222) at the firstsensor zone 206 within which the spectrometer 110 and the pyranometer120 are positioned. The housing 220 may also define another recess(e.g., a second recess 224) at the second sensor zone 208 within whichthe pyrgeometer 130 is positioned. In such an arrangement, the diffuser210 may be configured to cover the first recess 222 thereby covering thespectrometer 110 and the pyranometer 120. Additionally, the diffuser 230may be configured to cover the second recess 224 thereby covering thepyrgeometer 130.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-12, an example radiation measuring device 500in accordance with another non-limiting embodiment is shown. Theradiation measuring device 500 includes the spectroradiometer 102 (i.e.,the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, the pyrgeometer 130, andother components), the microcontroller 150 (e.g., control unit), thedata I/O module 160, and the power source 170 of the radiation measuringdevice 100 shown in FIGS. 1-6 and described herein. In some embodiments,the radiation measuring device 500 may also include the multiplexer 140,the orientation sensor 180, and the location sensor 190 of the radiationmeasuring device 100 shown in FIGS. 1-6 and described herein. It shouldbe appreciated that such components of the radiation measuring device500 may be configured substantially similar to, and performfunctionality substantially similar to, the components of the radiationmeasuring device 100, as described herein.

The radiation measuring device 500 also includes a secondspectroradiometer 502 also configured to sense and/or measure amounts ofvisible shortwave radiation, near-infrared (NIR) shortwave radiation,and longwave radiation that originate from the sun (i.e., solarradiation) and/or that are reflected by other objects. To do so, thespectroradiometer 502 includes a spectrometer 510, a pyranometer 520,and a pyrgeometer 530. In some embodiments, the spectroradiometer 502and/or each of the spectrometer 510, the pyranometer 520, and thepyrgeometer 530 are in electrical communication with the multiplexer140, which as discussed herein, may be in electrical communication withthe microcontroller 150 (e.g., the control unit). In other embodiments(not shown), the spectroradiometer 502 and/or each of the spectrometer510, the pyranometer 520, and the pyrgeometer 530 are in directelectrical communication with the microcontroller 150.

Similar to the spectrometer 110, the spectrometer 510 may include one ormore sensors or components configured to sense radiation and/or otherenvironmental conditions. For example, as illustratively shown in FIG.7, the spectrometer 510 may include one or more visible electromagneticradiation sensors 512 (e.g., visible light sensors), one or morenear-infrared (NIR) electromagnetic radiation sensors 514, one or moretemperature sensors 516, and/or one or more auxiliary sensors 518. Itshould be appreciated that such components of the radiation measuringdevice 500 may be configured substantially similar to, and performfunctionality substantially similar to, the visible electromagneticradiation sensor(s) 112, the NIR electromagnetic radiation sensor(s)114, temperature sensor(s) 116, and/or auxiliary sensor(s) 118 of thespectrometer 110 of the radiation measuring device 100, describedherein. In some embodiments, one or more of the sensors of thespectrometer 510 are configured to measure radiation within a waterabsorption band (i.e., radiation having a wavelength centered at about950 nm or about 1450 nm).

In some embodiments, the radiation measuring device 500 may include amounting assembly 550 (FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 12). In such embodiments, themounting assembly 550 may be configured to facilitate mounting theradiation measuring device 500 to a post. It should be appreciated thatwhile the mounting assembly 550 is shown to facilitate mounting theradiation measuring device 500 to a post, other mounting assemblies canbe used.

Similar to the radiation measuring device 100, the radiation measuringdevice 500 includes one or more diffusers configured to scatterelectromagnetic radiation received from external source(s). For example,as depicted in FIGS. 8-12, the radiation measuring device 500 includesthe diffuser 210 configured to cover the spectrometer 110 and thepyranometer 120. The radiation measuring device 500 includes a separatediffuser 230 configured to cover the pyrgeometer 130. Additionally, asshown, the radiation measuring device 500 includes the diffuser 610 andthe diffuser 630. The diffuser 610 is configured to cover thespectrometer 510 and the pyranometer 520. In some embodiments, thediffuser 610 may be embodied as or otherwise include one or morethermoplastic materials such as, for example, a polycarbonate materialor an acrylic material. The diffuser 630 is configured to cover thepyrgeometer 530 and may be embodied as or otherwise include one or morethermoplastic materials different from the diffuser 610. For example, insome embodiments, the diffuser 630 includes a polyethylene material.

As depicted in FIGS. 9-12, the radiation measuring device 500 has ahousing 504 that includes various the various components describedherein. For example, as illustratively shown, the spectrometer 110 andthe pyranometer 120 are positioned in a sensor zone (e.g., a firstsensor zone 506) of the radiation measuring device 500. The pyrgeometer130 is positioned in separate sensor zone (e.g., a second sensor zone508) of the radiation measuring device 500. Additionally, thespectrometer 510 and the pyranometer 520 are positioned in anothersensor zone (e.g., a third sensor zone 546) of the radiation measuringdevice 500, and the pyrgeometer 530 is positioned in yet another sensorzone (e.g., a fourth sensor zone 548) of the radiation measuring device500. In this arrangement, the diffuser 210 and the diffuser 230 may bepositioned to cover the first sensor zone 506 and the second sensor zone508, respectively. Additionally, the diffuser 610 and the diffuser 630may be positioned to cover the third sensor zone 546 and the fourthsensor zone 548, respectively.

As shown, the first and second sensor zones 506, 508 may be oriented inone direction (e.g., a first direction) relative to the housing 504 ofthe radiation measuring device 500. Additionally, the third and fourthsensor zones 546, 548 may be oriented in another direction (e.g., asecond direction) relative to the housing 504 of the radiation measuringdevice 500. In the illustrative embodiment shown, the orientationdirection of the third and fourth sensor zones 546, 548 is substantiallyopposite the orientation direction of the first and second sensor zones506, 508. For example, as shown, the first and second sensor zones 506,508 can be positioned on a first side (e.g., a top side) of the housing504 of the radiation measuring device 500 and oriented in one directionwhereas the third and fourth sensor zones 546, 548 can be positioned ona second side (e.g., a bottom side) of the housing 504 of the radiationmeasuring device 500 and oriented in an direction opposite to thedirection in which the first and second sensor zones 506, 508 areoriented.

In such arrangements, the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, and thepyrgeometer 130 or, more generally, the spectroradiometer 102, isconfigured to measure shortwave and longwave downwelling electromagneticradiation originating from source(s) external to the radiation measuringdevice 500 (e.g., solar radiation, etc.) and received at the first andsecond sensor zones 506, 508. For example, the spectrometer 110 may beconfigured to measure visible shortwave radiation and near-infraredshortwave radiation received at the first sensor zone 506. Thepyranometer 120 may be configured to measure visible shortwave radiationand, in some embodiments, near-infrared shortwave radiation, received atthe first sensor zone 506. Additionally, the pyrgeometer 130 may beconfigured to measure longwave radiation received at the second sensorzone 508.

Furthermore, the spectrometer 510, the pyranometer 520, and thepyrgeometer 530 or, more generally, the spectroradiometer 502, isconfigured to measure shortwave and longwave upwelling electromagneticradiation originating from source(s) external to the radiation measuringdevice 500 (e.g., reflected radiation, etc.). For example, thespectrometer 510 may be configured to measure visible shortwaveradiation and near-infrared shortwave radiation received at the thirdsensor zone 546. The pyranometer 520 may be configured to measurevisible shortwave radiation and, in some embodiments, near-infraredshortwave radiation, received at the third sensor zone 546.Additionally, the pyrgeometer 530 may be configured to measure longwaveradiation received at the fourth sensor zone 548.

In some embodiments, the housing 504 of the radiation measuring device500 may define a recess or cavity for each sensor zone. For example, thehousing 504 may define a recess (e.g., a first recess 522) at the firstsensor zone 506 within which the spectrometer 110 and the pyranometer120 are positioned. The housing 504 may also define another recess(e.g., a second recess 524) at the second sensor zone 508 within whichthe pyrgeometer 130 is positioned. The housing 504 may define a furtherrecess (e.g., a third recess 526) at the third sensor zone 546 withinwhich the spectrometer 510 and the pyranometer 520 are positioned. Thehousing 504 may also define another recess (e.g., a fourth recess 528)at the fourth sensor zone 548 within which the pyrgeometer 530 ispositioned. In such an arrangement, the diffuser 210 may be configuredto cover the first recess 522 thereby covering the spectrometer 110 andthe pyranometer 120. Additionally, the diffuser 230 may be configured tocover the second recess 524 thereby covering the pyrgeometer 130. Thediffuser 610 may be configured to cover the third recess 526 therebycovering the spectrometer 510 and the pyranometer 520. Furthermore, thediffuser 630 may be configured to cover the fourth recess 528 therebycovering the pyrgeometer 530.

It should be appreciated that by having an upward pointingspectroradiometer (i.e., the upper spectroradiometer 102), atmosphericpollutants can be measured using the attenuation of downwelling light(i.e., radiation) in certain wavelengths in reference to anuncontaminated spectrum. Further, by having a downward pointingspectroradiometer (i.e., the lower spectroradiometer 502), the accuracyof the sensors over a wider array of light conditions can be improved,which is useful in applications for measuring and analyzing upwellingradiation. Upwelling radiation has a very different spectrum thandownwelling radiation, so the errors could be large if calibrations forthe downwelling radiation were to be applied to the upwellingradiometer. By having downward pointing spectroradiometer (i.e., thelower spectroradiometer 502), vegetation cover and composition can bemeasured.

Further, devices for measuring plant reflectance conventionally onlymeasure a pair of wavelengths, (e.g., the red and NIR for NDVI, or thered edge and NIR for Chlorophyll, or the 530/570 pair for PRI). Theradiation measuring devices 100, 500 of the present disclosure, however,combine a number of spectral bands, allowing for a complete set ofmeasurements of characterize the plant. Consider the following model ofplant photosynthesis:

GPP=eps*fAPAR*PAR

where GPP is gross primary productivity, eps is light use efficiency,PAR is photosynthetically active radiation, and fAPAR is the fraction ofabsorbed PAR. (Gitel son, IEEE 2008).

In accordance with the present disclosure, photosynthetically activeradiation (PAR) may be directly measured using a silicon photodiode.Absorbed PAR (APAR) may be determined as follows:

APAR=(1−ratio of upelling to downwelling PAR)

The factor f is measured as the fraction of absorbed PAR (fAPAR) bymeans of a NDVI. Finally, eps is measured using the photochemicalreflectance index (PRI) and chlorophyll concentration. Moreover, unlikeconventional practice which measures the vegetation state occasionally,the light environment may be measured continuously (or at least at arelatively high sample frequency), allowing estimates of gross primaryproductivity (GPP) to be integrated over time.

The light use efficiency (LUE) is impacted by stresses that reduce theefficiency of chlorophyll to turn light energy into chemical energy. Theradiation measuring device 500 may measure or monitor other phenomenaindicative of heat and water stresses that are the common mechanisms forreduced light use efficiency. The radiation measuring device 500 mayalso measure leaf temperature using a non-contact thermopile (e.g., thepyrgeometer 530), as well as air temperature, and theleaf-to-air-temperature difference becomes a measure of heat stress. Theradiation measuring device 500 may also measure absorption of water inthe leaf using reflectance in the ˜950 and ˜1450 nm regions, as ameasure of leaf relative water content, which is correlated to leafwater potential. Leaf water potential can be used for evaluating leafwater stress, for example.

Moreover, a spectrometry challenge to separating direct and diffuseconstituents of shortwave radiation amounts to knowing the position ofthe sun in relation to a location on Earth, and from this knowledgecalculating how much sunlight should be received in a clear atmosphere.The radiation measuring devices 100, 500 disclosed herein may decipher,or facilitate the determination of, whether dimness is due to clouds(which have a flat impact on the radiation) or due to aerosols (whichhave a selective impact on certain wavelengths), or due to the pathlength of the sun through the atmosphere (Mie scattering). Because theradiation measuring devices 100, 500 may have a variety of onboardsensors, such as the location sensor 190 and the orientation sensor 180,the solar position in relation to the upper spectroradiometer 102 andthe lower spectroradiometer 502 can be determined. In doing so, theradiation measuring devices 100, 500 may be configured to determine orfacilitate the determination of the air mass, which can be used todetermine an estimate of Mie scattering. Accordingly, three differentcauses of light diffusion may be measured or considered, which providesan estimate of diffuse fraction.

In some embodiments, the radiation measuring devices 100, 500 areconfigured to communicate with a radiation analysis device (not shown).It should be appreciated that the radiation analysis device can beembodied as any type of computing device or server capable of performingthe functions described herein. For example, the radiation analysisdevice can be embodied as a microcomputer, a minicomputer, a customchip, an embedded processing device, a mobile computing device, a laptopcomputer, a handheld computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, apersonal digital assistant, a telephony device, a desktop computer, amainframe, or other computing device and/or suitable programmable devicecapable of processing, communicating, storing, maintaining, andtransferring data. As such, the radiation analysis device can includedevices and structures commonly found in computing devices such asprocessors, memory devices, communication circuitry, and data storages,which are not shown in the figures for clarity of the description. Itshould be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the radiation analysisdevice can include one or more processors (e.g., CPUs, processing units,etc.) that execute instructions stored on a computer-readable ormachine-readable medium to perform one or more of the functionsdescribed herein. Additionally or alternatively, the radiation analysisdevice can include hardware logic (e.g., logic circuits, etc.), softwarelogic, or any combination thereof capable of performing one or more ofthe functions described herein. As such, in some embodiments, theradiation analysis device may be a special-purpose computing orprocessing device configured to receive, analyze, or otherwise processmeasurement data received from the radiation measuring devices 100, 500.

In some embodiments, the radiation analysis device is configured toreceive the measurement data (e.g., voltages, values, etc.) generated byeach of the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, the pyrgeometer 130,the spectrometer 510, the pyranometer 520, the pyrgeometer 530, and/orany other sensors or devices of the radiation measuring device 500. Insuch embodiments, the radiation analysis device may be configured todetermine an amount of downwelling radiation received at the firstsensor zone 506 and the second sensor zone 508 based on the receivedmeasurement data. The radiation analysis device may also be configuredto determine an amount of upwelling radiation received at the thirdsensor zone 546 and the fourth sensor zone 548 based on the receivedmeasurement data. In some embodiments, the radiation analysis device isconfigured to determine a ratio of hemispherical upwelling radiation tohemispherical downwelling radiation in at least one spectral band basedat least in part on the determined amount of the upwelling radiation andthe determined amount of the downwelling radiation. To do so, in someembodiments, one or more sensors of the radiation measuring device 500may be configured to measure radiation in one or more spectral bandssuch as, for example, a blue spectral band, a green spectral band, ayellow spectral band, a red spectral band, a red edge spectral band, anda near-infrared spectral band.

Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the radiationanalysis device may be configured to retrieve one or more referencemeasurement correction factors from a data store (local or remote). Insuch embodiments, each of the one or more reference measurementcorrection factors corresponds to a different one of the spectrometer110, the pyranometer 120, the pyrgeometer 130, the spectrometer 510, thepyranometer 520, the pyrgeometer 530, and/or another sensor or device ofthe radiation measuring device 500. Based on the reference measurementcorrection factors, the radiation analysis device may be configured tocorrect (e.g., adjust, revise, etc.) the corresponding measurement datareceived from the radiation measuring device 500. For example, theradiation analysis device may be configured to utilize a referencemeasurement correction factor corresponding to the spectrometer 110 tocorrect measurement data generated by the spectrometer 110. It should beappreciated that the radiation analysis device can be configured toutilize the corrected measurement data values to determine the amountsof upwelling and downwelling radiation.

As discussed herein, the radiation measuring device 500, in someembodiments, includes a location sensor 190 (e.g., a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) sensor, RF triangulation circuitry, a compass, etc.) forgenerating location data or other geospatial data indicative of thephysical location of the radiation measuring device 500. In suchembodiments, the radiation analysis device may be configured to receivelocation data from the radiation measuring device 500 indicative of thephysical location of the radiation measuring device 500. Based on thereceived location data, the radiation analysis device can be configuredto determine a solar position relative to the physical location of theradiation measuring device 500. Thereafter, the radiation analysisdevice may be configured to determine an amount of direct radiation andan amount of diffuse radiation based at least in part on a measuredamount of solar radiation and a potential amount of solar radiation. Themeasured amount of solar radiation can be based at least in part on, orotherwise a function of, the determined amount of upwelling radiationand the determined amount of downwelling radiation.

In some embodiments, the radiation analysis device is configured todetermine one or more indices from the measurement data received fromthe radiation measuring device 500. For example, in some embodiments,the radiation analysis device is configured to determine a PhotochemicalReflectance Index (PRI) from the received measurement data. Additionallyor alternatively, the radiation analysis device is configured todetermine a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from thereceived measurement data. The radiation analysis device may also beconfigured to determine a Chlorophyll Index (CI) from the receivedmeasurement data. It should be appreciated that the radiation analysisdevice may also be configured to determine and/or generate indices thatcombine one or more of the PRI, NDVI, and CI. In embodiments, in whichthe radiation analysis device determines a PRI, one or more of thespectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, the spectrometer 510, and thepyranometer 520 of the radiation measuring device 500 may be configuredto measure radiation comprising wavelengths centered at about 530 nm andabout 570 nm. In embodiments, in which the radiation analysis devicedetermines a NDVI, one or more of the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer120, the spectrometer 510, and the pyranometer 520 of the radiationmeasuring device 500 may be configured to measure radiation comprisingwavelengths centered at about 650 nm and about 850 nm. Additionally, inembodiments in which the radiation analysis device determines a CI, oneor more of the spectrometer 110, the pyranometer 120, the spectrometer510, and the pyranometer 520 of the radiation measuring device 500 maybe configured to measure radiation comprising wavelengths centered atabout 725 nm and about 850 nm.

The examples discussed herein are examples only and are provided toassist in the explanation of the apparatuses, devices, systems andmethods described herein. None of the features or components shown inthe drawings or discussed below should be taken as mandatory for anyspecific implementation of any of these the apparatuses, devices,systems or methods unless specifically designated as mandatory. For easeof reading and clarity, certain components, modules, or methods may bedescribed solely in connection with a specific figure. Any failure tospecifically describe a combination or sub-combination of componentsshould not be understood as an indication that any combination orsub-combination is not possible. Also, for any methods described,regardless of whether the method is described in conjunction with a flowdiagram, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified orrequired by context, any explicit or implicit ordering of stepsperformed in the execution of a method does not imply that those stepsmust be performed in the order presented but instead may be performed ina different order or in parallel.

In general, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatat least some of the embodiments described herein can be implemented inmany different embodiments of software, firmware, and/or hardware. Thesoftware and firmware code can be executed by a processor or any othersimilar computing device. The software code or specialized controlhardware that can be used to implement embodiments is not limiting. Forexample, embodiments described herein can be implemented in computersoftware using any suitable computer software language type, using, forexample, conventional or object-oriented techniques. Such software canbe stored on any type of suitable computer-readable medium or media,such as, for example, a magnetic or optical storage medium. Theoperation and behavior of the embodiments can be described withoutspecific reference to specific software code or specialized hardwarecomponents. The absence of such specific references is feasible, becauseit is clearly understood that artisans of ordinary skill would be ableto design software and control hardware to implement the embodimentsbased on the present description with no more than reasonable effort andwithout undue experimentation.

Moreover, the processes described herein can be executed by programmableequipment, such as computers or computer systems and/or processors.Software that can cause programmable equipment to execute processes canbe stored in any storage device, such as, for example, a computer system(nonvolatile) memory, an optical disk, magnetic tape, or magnetic disk.Furthermore, at least some of the processes can be programmed when thecomputer system is manufactured or stored on various types ofcomputer-readable media.

In various embodiments disclosed herein, a single component can bereplaced by multiple components and multiple components can be replacedby a single component to perform a given function or functions. Exceptwhere such substitution would not be operative, such substitution iswithin the intended scope of the embodiments.

The foregoing description of embodiments and examples has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or limiting to the forms described. Numerous modificationsare possible in light of the above teachings. Some of thosemodifications have been discussed, and others will be understood bythose skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described inorder to best illustrate principles of various embodiments as are suitedto particular uses contemplated. The scope is, of course, not limited tothe examples set forth herein, but can be employed in any number ofapplications and equivalent devices by those of ordinary skill in theart.

1. A radiation measuring device, comprising: a housing; a spectrometercoupled to the housing; a pyranometer coupled to the housing, whereinthe pyranometer is adjacently positioned to the spectrometer; a firstdiffuser covering the spectrometer and the pyranometer, the firstdiffuser configured to scatter the visible shortwave radiation and thenear-infrared shortwave radiation; a pyrgeometer coupled to the housing;a second diffuser covering the pyrgeometer, the second diffuser isdifferent from the first diffuser; and a control unit electricallycoupled to the spectrometer, the pyranometer, and the pyrgeometer, thecontrol unit configured to receive measurements from the spectrometer,the pyranometer, and the pyrgeometer.
 2. The radiation measuring deviceof claim 1, wherein the spectrometer is configured to measure visibleshortwave radiation and near-infrared shortwave radiation; thepyranometer is configured to measure shortwave radiation; and thepyrgeometer is configured to measure longwave radiation.
 3. Theradiation measuring device of claim 1, wherein the housing defines afirst recess and a second recess, wherein the spectrometer and thepyranometer are positioned within the first recess and the pyrgeometeris positioned within the second recess.
 4. The radiation measuringdevice of claim 1, wherein the first diffuser comprises a polycarbonatematerial or an acrylic material.
 5. The radiation measuring device ofclaim 1, wherein the first diffuser and the second diffuser comprisethermoplastic materials.
 6. The radiation measuring device of claim 1,wherein the second diffuser comprises a polyethylene material.
 7. Theradiation measuring device of claim 1, further comprising communicationcircuitry in electrical communication with the control unit, thecommunication circuitry configured for outbound communication of themeasurements received from the spectrometer, the pyranometer, and thepyrgeometer.
 8. The radiation measuring device of claim 7, furthercomprising a location sensor electrically coupled to the control unit,the location sensor is configured to generate location data indicativeof a physical location of the radiation measuring device; and whereinthe communication circuitry is further configured for outboundcommunication of the location data of the radiation measuring device. 9.The radiation measuring device of claim 1, further comprising anorientation sensor selected from a group consisting of a bubble level, amagnetometer, and a combination thereof.
 10. The radiation measuringdevice of claim 1, wherein the spectrometer is configured to measureradiation within a water absorption band.
 11. The radiation measuringdevice of claim 10, wherein the radiation within the water absorptionband has a wavelength centered at about 950 nm or about 1450 nm.
 12. Theradiation measuring device of claim 1, wherein the spectrometer isfurther configured to generate voltages indicative of the measuredvisible shortwave radiation and near-infrared shortwave radiation; thepyranometer is further configured to generate a voltage indicative ofthe measured shortwave radiation; the pyrgeometer is further configuredto generate a voltage indicative of the measured longwave radiation; andthe control unit is configured to receive the voltages from thespectrometer, the voltage from the pyranometer, and the voltage from thepyrgeometer.
 13. The radiation measuring device of claim 1, wherein thepyranometer is configured to measure any of the visible shortwaveradiation and the near-infrared shortwave radiation received within thefirst recess.
 14. A radiation measuring device, comprising: a housingcomprising: a top side defining a first top recess, and a bottom sidedefining a first bottom recess; a first spectrometer and a firstpyranometer positioned within the first top recess; a first diffusercovering the first top recess, the first spectrometer, and the firstpyranometer, the first diffuser configured to scatter the visibleshortwave radiation and the near-infrared shortwave radiation receivedwithin the first top recess; a second spectrometer and a secondpyranometer positioned within the first bottom recess; a second diffusercovering the first bottom recess, the second spectrometer, and thesecond pyranometer, the second diffuser configured to scatter thevisible shortwave radiation and the near-infrared shortwave radiationreceived within the first bottom recess; and a control unit electricallycoupled to the first spectrometer, the first pyranometer, the secondspectrometer, and the second pyranometer, the control unit configured toreceive measurements from the first spectrometer, the first pyranometer,the second spectrometer, and the second pyranometer.
 15. The radiationmeasuring device of claim 14, wherein the top side further defines asecond top recess and the bottom side further defines a second bottomrecess.
 16. The radiation measuring device of claim 15, furthercomprising: a first pyrgeometer positioned within the second top recess;a third diffuser covering the second top recess and the firstpyrgeometer, the third diffuser is different from the first diffuser; asecond pyrgeometer positioned within the second bottom recess; and afourth diffuser covering the second bottom recess, the fourth diffuseris different from the third diffuser; and wherein the control unit iselectrically coupled to the first pyrgeometer and the second pyrgeometerand configured to receive measurements from the first pyrgeometer andthe second pyrgeometer.
 17. The radiation measuring device of claim 16,wherein: the first spectrometer is configured to measure visibleshortwave radiation and near-infrared shortwave radiation receivedwithin the first top recess; the first pyranometer is configured tomeasure shortwave radiation received within the first top recess; thefirst pyrgeometer is configured to measure longwave radiation receivedwithin the second top recess; the second spectrometer is configured tomeasure visible shortwave radiation and near-infrared shortwaveradiation received within the first bottom recess; the secondpyranometer is configured to measure shortwave radiation received withinthe first bottom recess; and the second pyrgeometer is configured tomeasure longwave radiation received within the second bottom recess. 18.The radiation measuring device of claim 16, wherein an orientation ofthe first and second top recesses is substantially opposite anorientation of the first and second bottom recesses.
 19. The radiationmeasuring device of claim 16, wherein the first diffuser, the seconddiffuser, the third diffuser, and the fourth diffuser comprisethermoplastic materials.
 20. The radiation measuring device of claim 16,wherein the first spectrometer is further configured to generatevoltages indicative of the measured visible shortwave radiation and themeasured near-infrared shortwave radiation received at the within thefirst top recess; wherein the first pyranometer is further configured togenerate a voltage indicative of the measured shortwave radiationreceived within the first top recess; wherein the first pyrgeometer isfurther configured to generate a voltage indicative of the measuredlongwave radiation received within the second top recess; wherein thesecond spectrometer is further configured to generate voltagesindicative of the measured visible shortwave radiation and the measurednear-infrared shortwave radiation received within the first bottomrecess; wherein the second pyranometer is further configured to generatea voltage indicative of the measured shortwave radiation received withinthe first bottom recess; wherein the second pyrgeometer is furtherconfigured to generate a voltage indicative of the measured longwaveradiation received within the second bottom recess; wherein the controlunit is configured to receive the voltages from the first spectrometer,the voltage from the first pyranometer, the voltage from the firstpyrgeometer, the voltages from the second spectrometer, the voltage fromthe second pyranometer, and the voltage from the second pyrgeometer. 21.The radiation measuring device of claim 14, wherein the first top recessis configured to receive downwelling radiation and wherein the firstbottom recess is configured to receive upwelling radiation.
 22. Theradiation measuring device of claim 14, further comprising anorientation sensor configured to determine levelness of the housing. 23.The radiation measuring device of claim 14, wherein the firstspectrometer and the second spectrometer are configured to measureradiation within a water absorption band.
 24. A system for collectingand analyzing radiation measurements, the system comprising: a radiationmeasuring device, comprising: a housing comprising: a top side defininga first recess and a second recess positioned in a first orientationrelative to the housing, the first recess and the second recessconfigured to receive downwelling radiation, and a bottom side defininga third recess and a fourth recess positioned in a second orientationrelative to the housing, the third recess and the fourth recessconfigured to receive upwelling radiation; a first spectrometer and afirst pyranometer positioned within the first recess; a firstpyrgeometer positioned within the second recess; a second spectrometerand a second pyranometer positioned within the third recess; a secondpyrgeometer positioned within the fourth recess; a control unitelectrically coupled to the first spectrometer, the first pyranometer,the first pyrgeometer, the second spectrometer, the second pyranometer,and the second pyrgeometer, the control unit configured to receivemeasurement data generated by each of the first spectrometer, the firstpyranometer, the first pyrgeometer, the second spectrometer, the secondpyranometer, and the second pyrgeometer; a radiation analysis devicecomprising a processor executing instructions stored in memory, whereinthe instructions cause the processor of the radiation analysis deviceto: receive, from the radiation measuring device, the measurement datagenerated by each of the first spectrometer, the first pyranometer, thefirst pyrgeometer, the second spectrometer, the second pyranometer, andthe second pyrgeometer; determine an amount of downwelling radiationreceived within first recess and the second recess; and determine anamount of upwelling radiation received within the third recess and thefourth recess.
 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the instructions ofthe radiation analysis device further cause the processor of theradiation analysis device to determine a ratio of hemisphericalupwelling radiation to hemispherical downwelling radiation in at leastone spectral band based at least in part on the determined amount of theupwelling radiation and the determined amount of the downwellingradiation.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the radiation measuringdevice further comprises one or more sensors configured to measureradiation in a spectral band selected from a group consisting of a bluespectral band, a green spectral band, a yellow spectral band, a redspectral band, a red edge spectral band, and a near-infrared spectralband.
 27. The system of claim 25, wherein the instructions of theradiation analysis device further cause the processor of the radiationanalysis device to: retrieve one or more reference measurementcorrection factors from a data store, each of the one or more referencemeasurement correction factors corresponds to a different one of thefirst spectrometer, the first pyranometer, the first pyrgeometer, thesecond spectrometer, the second pyranometer, and the second pyrgeometer;correct the received measurement data generated by one or more of thefirst spectrometer, the first pyranometer, the first pyrgeometer, thesecond spectrometer, the second pyranometer, and the second pyrgeometerbased at least in part on the corresponding reference measurementcorrection factor; and wherein to determine the amount of downwellingradiation and the amount of upwelling radiation comprises to determinethe amount of downwelling radiation and the amount of upwellingradiation based on the corrected measurement data.
 28. The system ofclaim 27, wherein the radiation measuring device further comprises alocation sensor electrically coupled to the control unit, the locationsensor is configured to generate location data indicative of a physicallocation of the radiation measuring device; and wherein the instructionsof the radiation analysis device further cause the processor of theradiation analysis device to: receive the location data from theradiation measuring device; determine a solar position based at least inpart on the received location data; and determine an amount of directradiation and an amount of diffuse radiation based at least in part on ameasured amount of solar radiation and a potential amount of solarradiation, wherein the measured amount of solar radiation is based atleast in part on the determined amount of upwelling radiation and thedetermined amount of downwelling radiation, and the potential amount ofsolar radiation is based at least in part on the determined solarposition.
 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the instructions of theradiation analysis device further cause the processor of the radiationanalysis device to determine one or more indices selected from a groupconsisting of a Photochemical Reflectance Index, a Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index, a Chlorophyll Index, and combinations thereof.
 30. Thesystem of claim 24, further comprising: a first diffuser covering thefirst recess, the first spectrometer, and the first pyranometer, thefirst diffuser configured to scatter the visible shortwave downwellingradiation and the near-infrared shortwave downwelling radiation receivedwithin the first recess; a second diffuser covering the second recessand the first pyrgeometer, the second diffuser is different from thefirst diffuser; a third diffuser covering the third recess, the secondspectrometer, and the second pyranometer, the third diffuser configuredto scatter the visible shortwave upwelling radiation and thenear-infrared shortwave upwelling radiation received within the thirdrecess; and a fourth diffuser covering the fourth recess and the secondpyrgeometer, the fourth diffuser is different from the third diffuser.